Andre Agassi Struggled In School; Now He Invests In Phonics Startup

Andre Agassi -- a tennis legend who had a terrible time in school -- is on a crusade to improve the way American children learn. This week, Agassi announced that he is joining the board of an ed-tech company that specializes in phonics for pre-kindergartners, Square Panda, and is taking a "substantial stake" in the company.

Agassi has been building his educational influence since 2001, when he founded a college preparatory academy in his home town of Las Vegas. His school provides tuition-free education for at-risk children. Agassi also has helped organize funds that have the capacity to provide $1 billion in capital for charter-school construction across the United States.

In an interview Monday, the 45-year-old Agassi said he keeps expanding his focus to earlier stages in children's development, looking for ways to help protect youngsters from falling behind. "It's too bad that Square Panda doesn't show up in the hallways in maternity wards," Agassi quipped, so that its software can be accessed by newborns. "I'm learning to read with it as we speak," he added.

Banter aside, Agassi said he spends a lot of time these days hearing entrepreneurs' pitches about education initiatives. He turns down most of them, but said he was impressed with the results that Square Panda chief executive Andy Butler described to him. The clincher: a visit to a Las Vegas preschool, where Agassi watched young children using the company's software on iPads. "It was amazing to see how effective a tool it can be," Agassi declared.

Square Panda has raised about $4 million to date; Butler said Agassi is taking a "double-digit stake" in the company. But Agassi said the invested cash is only part of his commitment. "It's easy to write a check," he said. "What's harder is to give time." He said on projects like this, "I look for ways to open doors" with educators and investors that can help the company succeed. "It's not hard for me to get a callback," Agassi wryly observed.

Agassi's own formal education stopped at age 14 -- when he was in ninth grade -- amid factors that included his soaring tennis talent, his frustrations in school, and the desire of his coach and his father to focus him relentlessly on his sport. In his biography, "Open," Agassi vividly recounted his youthful struggles in school.

In primary school, he wrote, "I like books but feel over-matched by them. I have a steel-trap memory, but trouble concentrating. I need things explained twice, three times." His middle-school days, he recalled, were marked by feeling tres stupide in French class, only to transfer to a Spanish class where he was pegged as muy estupido.

Wealthy from his pro-tennis successes, Agassi still empathizes with the plight of children who aren't doing well in school. Even with his college-prep academy, he says, "I regretted that we didn't start in pre-K. It turns out that nine out of 10 dropouts were unsuccessful readers at an early age."

I write about innovation, careers and unforgettable personalities. One of my 2015 Forbes magazine cover stories has turned into a new book: "You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a Useless Liberal Arts Education." Learn more at www.georgeandersbooks.com. You can conta...